stmpspaz

So it won't ruin the batteries to leave them in the charger and plugged in all the time?

Patti

goalzero wrote:The batteries can be used for hundreds of cycles. However, if you leave it for 5 years, they most likely will be dead. We recommend you leave the Guide 10 Plus charging from any USB source, when you are not using it, and it helps you accomplish a few things. One is that when you do need to bug out an go, you know your batteries are full, and you're not waiting for the sun to come up if it happens to be night time. Two, you get to use the Guide 10 Plus outside of an emergency situations. I use mine every day! My son even uses it for his controllers on the XBox. Keep the panel in the bug-out bag, and use the Guide 10 Plus daily.

Having said that, you could throw it in the bag and leave it. The batteries would be dead in 5 years, but all you would need to do is swap them out with a fresh set of AA and/or AAA NiMH batteries in 2019 or whatever year you needed it. Hope that helps!

scottjl

i bought one of these from a lightning sale from amazon last summer. great panel and charger. the pockets to carry all the little cables is a smart idea. the fact that it charges plain old rechargeable AA's as opposed to some special battery pack is an even more amazing idea. i've charged up phones, toys, radios and gadgets from it. this is a pretty good deal and i'd recommend it to anyone (and already emailed several friends about this).

goalzero

damnilocano wrote:@GoalZero
Would I be able to swap out the rechargable batteries when they die? I have a whole bunch of Eneloop batteries.

You can swap them out whenever you need to, as often as you need two. Many users of this product will have 2 or 3 sets of batteries that they are charging throught the day. This way, they can use the batteries in other devices, and have a fresh set to charge their phone.

goalzero

rambo91145 wrote:@goalzero rep-there have been reports all over the net of the guide 10 frying/scrambling charging circuitry on devices, particularly apple and kindle it seems. Could you comment on that? Was it an issue that's been fixed or what's causing it?
I'm not a goal zero hater, love your life lights in my camper and have a bigger panel of yours but these reports concern me, thanks!

I appreciate you mentioning this! Our first version of the Guide 10, even though at the time it was cool and unlike anything out on the market, had some flaws.

We made some major changes to the Guide 10 Plus. One of which is its ability to negotiate with the device it is charging and allow the device to pull the power, instead of pushing the power to the device. I know it sounds like some "Terminator" type of talk, but the internal components of the Guide 10 Plus communicate with the device it is charging. On top of that, it does not push the power out, it allows your device to pull what it needs.

hanks35

I have the original guide 10 and the nomad 7. Overall I'm very happy with the product but do have one big beef in regard to charging devices from the battery pack:

I've found that with a fully charged battery pack, that when I plug my device in to be charged, it'll begin charging only to the extent that the charge between the device and battery pack becomes neutral. In other words, if my device is bone dry empty on power, and the battery pack is 100% full, when I charge the device, the device only goes to about 50% if I leave it connected and unattended. This isn't to say that it won't charge the device above 50%, it does, but ultimately, once the battery pack is depleted, the battery pack then starts to suck power back out of the device it just charged (in other words, it starts charging itself from the device it just charged). The battery pack should be a one way street when charging another device so that once it's empty, it stops/shuts off and doesn't then start to draw power from the charged device. If anyone else has this issue or a solution (other than standing there and watching it the whole time) I'd appreciate it.

rcallow

How does the solar panel charge the battery pack? And by that I mean what is the connector from the panel to the pack. I have an Anker Astro3 External Battery that charges via a USB/micro USB cord. I plug the USB end into a converter plug (wall outlet) - does the panel have a USB port to plug into?

madmax718

girardot wrote:Does anyone know if the battery charger part of this package is one of those chargers that requires batteries to inserted in pairs only?

Seems I have a number of devices (ok, flashlights, I'm one of those guys) that use 3 AAA batts or 1 AA batt so I often do not have even pairs of batteries that need charging. Many inexpensive charges need the batteries to be in pairs.

Does this one charge the batteries individually so I could pull one out to use and put another one in its place?

Its designed to charge 4 at a time. It will not charge with any other number.

obob

A comment about using AA cells for effective power transfer, and somewhat of a plug for a product I've been using for a year now that should make a great supplement to this set.

This pack includes "two" sets of batteries, but unless you have devices that use AAA NiMH directly, tripleAs have really tiny capacity in comparison. I recommend getting at least one more set of AAs. And then, an additional unit to go between the charged set of AAs and your phone or other device, while your second set of AAs is charging from the panel. In short, I recommend keeping the "Guide 10 Plus" busy full time with the job of charging AA cells while there's sunlight, and using another device to transfer power from AA cells to your phone or other end-device at the same time.

I bought a budget "charger" from Amazon almost a year ago, it's still going strong, and even at the low price the manufacturer is still doing charitable outreach.
http://www.amazon.com/Burro-Mobile-Charger-AA-Powered-Building/dp/B0078E2MZW
This device is a "charger" only in the sense of charging USB devices *from* AA NiMH cells. It will not under any circumstances charge the cells. But for ten bucks I love it. With four Eneloop cells and a 3 foot microUSB cable mine weighs 6 ounces.

madmax718

rcallow wrote:How does the solar panel charge the battery pack? And by that I mean what is the connector from the panel to the pack. I have an Anker Astro3 External Battery that charges via a USB/micro USB cord. I plug the USB end into a converter plug (wall outlet) - does the panel have a USB port to plug into?

You can charge directly from the panel via USB. You can also charge from the AA battery pack (but its very inefficient to charge from one battery pack to another. Its not exclusive to a Goal Zero product).

The guide 10 can be charged via its USB port, or its solar port. The charging on the solar port is much faster.

The guide 10 has one and the nomad 7 has one. You can actually charge two usb devices at the same time from one panel. Its not very well advertised and marketed, but I do it all the time (so that I can have an additional Brunton pack topped off)

goalzero

emagdnima wrote:Would this be suitable to charge an external LiIon battery pack with a 12v 1A input?

I know it'd take 3x as long on the 15v .3A output, but would it work?

We have optimized our power packs for solar. Most others have not, so I wouldn't be able to guarantee anything. That being said, we charge lithium ion batteries with the same input requirements you describe with the solar panel in this event. So it should work.

bcurt002

I'm in for one. When Hurricane Isabel came through and knocked power out in my city (yeah I know that was over a decade ago, I'm old) this thing would've been worth its weight in gold. Our phones didn't last very long without power and the flip phones back then had better battery life then today's smartphones.

radstu

lloydrj wrote:I found Goal Zero customer support to be BAD. I bought a kit from amazon that was missing the "AAA" adapter. I contacted Goal Zero several times and twice they promised to send me one. I NEVER got one and by then was past the 30 day amazon return period. If you have issues with the device, don't expect help from Goal Zero.

I had an exact opposite experience. I purchased my items directly from Goal Zero, and when I got them, one of the adapters was missing - the one I could use to charge my sherpa from the car. They sent the less expensive adapter that sits between them, but not the more expensive one to plug into the car. I called them while driving to the airport, and when I landed overseas, they'd managed to ship the replacement part to an address near where I arrived essentially the next day, before we drove up into the mountains and away from power lines. YMMV!

May be a good deal for more output but for me and backpacking the Nomad 7 attaches to my pack and I can leave it open the whole time. It looks like the Anker panel is much to long and would be hitting my backside and/or flopping around as I hiked. Just a thought.

nordie

goalzero wrote:I appreciate you mentioning this! Our first version of the Guide 10, even though at the time it was cool and unlike anything out on the market, had some flaws.

We made some major changes to the Guide 10 Plus. One of which is its ability to negotiate with the device it is charging and allow the device to pull the power, instead of pushing the power to the device. I know it sounds like some "Terminator" type of talk, but the internal components of the Guide 10 Plus communicate with the device it is charging. On top of that, it does not push the power out, it allows your device to pull what it needs.

Hi,

I have an older version of the Guide 10 Plus - how do I know which version I have.....specifically how do I know if I have the version that "negotiates" with the device being charged?

n3w2m0rr0w

An acquaintance of mine Chris Burkard who is a professional photographer has vouched for this brand and carries it with him on shoots...if it's good enough for him I know it's a solid product. I've been waiting to find a good deal on a GZ set and this is it...I'm in for one!

kjonmyway

damnilocano wrote:REI recently changed their return policy to one year from purchase and 30 days if you buy from their outlet. I was told this in December 2013 when I was returning something two years old. I think there is a grace period because the clerk let me return it. YMMV.

Funny you say that....I had heard that, but was told at my local REI that members could return items at any time. Hmmm.....

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